Scarlet Pimple

IHE I am worried about you. By the time you reach 36 you will be GASPING FOR BREATH AND GRASPING FOR STRAWS. And Terry needs you. So do I --for entertainment.

Just tell him to go for it and sit back and wait.

And the Pimple advised you many weeks ago, and repeated it recently, that ICT would start to shake,rattle and roll after 13 games had been played didn't he? Well here is game 14 to savour..it happened. I also told you in the past that his cat, Matilda, occasionally speaks but you didn't believe that either. So next time be nice and just suspend your disbelief and go with the flow. And if you want to speak to Matilda you will have to make an appointment...she will need time to check you out to see if she likes you first.

Looking at the way the top officials run Scottish footbaljust now all I can say is "I'm shaking my head because it's all Greek to me anyway". However, on a more serious note, since they have been a prominent and succcessful team in Scottish football for a very long time, Hearts' demise now in such circumstances is a very sad event. Saying good riddance is completely wrong and completely inappropriate. Just remember that East Fife were once the top team in Scotland and even in great demand for games in England and now look at them--getting only 600 people into their ground on a Saturday. This could happen to ANY team in senior football and the way the downward financial trend of our club is showing up right now I will even venture to suggest that, unless a large injection of serious money is made into ICT in the near future,it's anybody's guess where we will be within 3-4 years. Back in the Highland League?

IHE, I read your last post as the unarmed loyal poster. Does Terry intimidate him that much. LOL. :biggrin:

IHE-- It's a penny fer yer thoughts anytime. Sometimes you get so animated that I wonder if I give you a penny you will just spend it in the lavvy. Or maybe buy a penny dreadful entitled ..."The Terrible Trio, Terry, Mo and Johndo". Ha! Ha!

Well, if Terry put out the team sheet based on the Internet fans' suggestions then methinks he has about thrown in the towel. Or he is saying" O.K. you smart Alecs, here is what you want , now eat crow if it fails" Either way it makes good copy on here; Call on Charlie Bannerperson when you need him--strangely quiet he is on here of late.

Green dot to Dougal for a refreshing and much more positive post.

C/mon guys. 2-3 wins can rocket ICT up the table. ALL is NOT lost, just slipped down the mountain a bit. Now it's back up the hill again.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, reflecting on the REALITY of the situation, Terry and Mo are here to stay, come what may. No ifs or buts about it. The smart thing to do now is the positive thing (is it ever anything else?) and that is to support Mr Butcher and Mr Malpas to the hilt until the end of the season. Crying for his, or any other head is not going to solve anything because it's pie in the sky and unless the earth caves in it will never happen-at least not this season and probably not next either because, remember, their contract is for two years. PLUS, every employee deserves a fair chance. If ever the Manager and the club needed the fan base to be solidly behind them it is now. Get with it you negative posters and so-called fans and go to the matches, buy a ticket (not season ticket holders), lend your physical presence to the voice of the crowd and cheer every decent pass. And phone the club with a suppporting few words and you will see the rrsponse.

Maybe Mee visits him occasionally and wipes his fevered brow since she lives close by doesn't she? Haven't seen her on here for ages. All we need now is for bigTel to breathlessly announce that he saw the Loch Ness Monster on the way to INVERNESS CALEDONIAN THISTLE F.C. park and the phone lines from England will be humming--or maybe it's the emails from ETel today.

There is nothing to beat a self-hand-massage of the joints and muscles followed by a hot bath before heavy exercise. Sorted. Now that's a warm up they will all look forward to (the hot bath I mean.) And a lot cheaper than a fancy therapist who has a vested interest in "the more the merrier"-- unless he is on a large salary, of course. Just a thought Terry.

IHE is on the right track here, IMHO, and I had similar feelings after reading what IHE says. There is no denying that terry has great spirit and a dogged determination to win and succeed; admirable qualities of persistence and survival. But my first love are the memories of Caledonian F.C which go back almost 60 years,closely followed by my love of ICT because ICT is the child of the former club. So these feelings will always be my prime motivator and cannot be supplanted by emotions about Terry's life, personal comfort or ambitions. That's not to say that he has no deep feelings for the club but a lifetime's loyalty and devotion can't be won over by what Terry has to offer. This season he has the right to expect support,though,come what may in repayment for rescuing ICT from the depths of the relegation morass in Div 1. After that, the Manager is strictly paid to get results and keep the club afloat and we must not forget that his salary is still probably very high indeed and exceeds that of the average supporter by many pounds. --this is not a labour of love, only, for him but a JOB. This is a business to those who put sums of money into it and they expect a return on the investment,regardless of their love for Caley Thistle, otherwise they do have the right to NOT to renewthe Manager's contract--and he knows that!

Maybe it's not the "too many players" thing that is the problem. It COULD BE that there are "too many players who are new, are getting to know each other and don't understand their exact roles...etc" which leads to mistakes, friction among the players and instability and nervousness throughout the whole team. A couple of good wins will work wonders to restore confidence though. At least that's what I'm hoping. Sigh.

Starchief I have given you a green dot for a good effort but I am not sure that more twisting and turning in the wind will help much until Terry has a full complement of players to choose from. Tade must back off from being the, or a, front runner and lurk and then cause panic with a blistering run to meet the expected low cross ibn the middle. That's enough to put any opposing defence on edge. Speedy, aggressive, penetrating wingers now are a must. And the defence must be completely stabilised , like in the days when Dodds was Master in the Middle. At that time, all the defensive players knew their role, relied upon and trusted their defensive counterparts and Doddsy was a rock.Hogg might be able to achieve a lot though.

Ask IHE for his assessment since he's the expert on body language being a hottie medical psychological assessor an' all. Knees -up-Mother Brown means he is chirping. Neck stuck forward like a Canada Goose on his migration run to Europe, travelling flat out with these beautiful, powerful wings of his beating non-stop, and you can be sure he is mildly concussed or pretty angry or even just determined to go somewhere fast. Hands up in the air, knees bent and head tilted upward and a banshee yell of joy coming out of his mouth and no doubt he is quite chuffed. Unless you heard the Rebel Yell of criticism being directed at the offending player,frankly how can you tell? :werenotworthy:

Well, 250 thousand pounds will always help but ---only as a bandaid if the source of the diminishing financial situation is not changed. Trends as evidenced here are anathema (that's bad news) to a banker. The club needs to aggressively get more rear-ends in seats -and if this means reducing prices I really can't see an alternative since, at the moment at least , this is not a winning team. Pray and hope there is a turn around fromn now on.

And here we were thinking that Wanderer had dropped off the face of the earth. Smile.

Isn't Maurice in charge of training ?

Paul di Giacamo told me that he was just giving you a "snow-job". Easy come, easy go, like. :biggrin:

Well said Buckett.

TOKELY COULD BE THE ANSWER. There is an old saying that 'you get more with honey than with vinegar". I don't wholly agree withn that because some horses are just lazy and need a wee push to get up there with the frontrunners in the pack. But if Foran is not throwing out some praise and/or encouragement then he is surely making a big mistake in by-passing the opportunity to show the players that he isnot only a fair Captain but a wise one. And he must motivate or die on the vine. That is leadership.

Butcher and Malpas cannot be fired because it would well-nigh bankrupt the team. However, as time goes along and wins still do not materialise, the current set-up could become untenable. The stability of the Managers' position offers a fall-back position for them which could become a disincentive to getting the best out of the team and the big question is will Terry and Mo lose more heart than they could already be suffering by viewing the apparently lacklustre and no-real-fight effort against St Johnston. Heh!Terry seemed awfully muted in his comments about the team's performamce. So, why did the team not play-on from the St Mirren high instead of raging along with confidence? THAT scares me.Losing is one thing but rolling over and dying at the first whiff of a North wind is not the spirit of a real Highland team. Read into that whatever you like. So, is it a case of too many Southern boys in the team with no real heart? If so they are doing themselves no favour at all because if they do have real ability do they think it will shine through on this insipid canvas and attract the attention of the brilliant Southern Managers? Answer--not bl--dy likely. The problem also is this fantastic loan situation scenario which always will be tentative and terrifying ..here today and gone tomorrow. Players with one foot in Inverness and one mind in Birmingham--just the ticket for Caley Thistle.Yeah right! Terry , try telling them to fess-up or f..k off. Bench them and play some 2nd or 3rd team lads in their stead..that will show them withouhaving to sceam at them. This is serious business so send the flipping message. Or is it a form of complacency setting in every time they win a gam? It looks as if Tansey can have a go but blooters the ball frequently over the bar which is far from profeessional and indicates a lack of desire to get it right on the training ground. Same old , same old. Also, Tade must be brought back from the front line and used as a battering ram type prober since He is very unlikely to score a lot of goals right up front(if any more at all). The rot could become a very large rut....'nuff said Terence and Maurice? P.s Get your gear on Terry and show them how it is done for ten minutes on the park. That would send a REAL message to the younger element, I would warrant. Certainly shake their complacency , if nothing else. Think I am being too tough, friends? Feel free ........

Oh well. it's now 12.45 a.m. and I have just began to wake up. And take it all in. DOH! But remember, friends , that the Pimple said a month or so ago that the team would start to roll after 13 games. Well, including the cup game and the N. of Scotland cup game, we are there now. Unless I am not supposed to count the above two extra games qhwn qw hve to wait a tad longer. So, let's see what transpires from here-on in. Exciting times are ahead.....

The Moderators on this forum are as fair and restrained as you will get anywhere else. And, so long as you are non-abusive to other posters, you are always allowed a fair hearing. Concentrate on putting your own point of view and don't be so ready to attack other posters or their viewpoints.If you have a problem with that, there is no use sending this Pimple a querulous P.M. --better send it to IHE who is a highly trained psychoanalyst with the added gift of being related to the Brahan Seer. Listen to him carefully and if you are not more confused afterwards than you were before, just mull it over and .... dae as you-all are telt. And it is true that the greater part of the positive posts are frequently from much older folks with a vision which reaches farther than the next win or loss.Which youse youngsters simply don't have, so be kind to us older yins and defer to our superior judgement....eh? As for Managers--they come and go and every Manager must be given a fair chance to complete his plan without having to fear for his position at the club evertytime there is a downturn in the performance, or goals or wins. Management, like team performances , are frequently cyclical and the wise Board understands this and is settling in for the long term. Running a football team is like the see-saw of life--now you are up and now you are down. But it's also a lot of fun...eh?